The invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector having contacts formed in right angle configurations securely held within sleeves formed in an effectively removable insulator adapted to serve as a holding fixture and seating tool for inserting perpendicular portions of the contacts into receiving apertures formed in a mounting substrate while second orthogonal portions of the contacts lie generally parallel thereto.
In the past, connector applications have included straight post type contacts secured in the mounting substrate, in a perpendicular relationship thereto. Such contacts generally include upper interconnection mating portions for coupled engagement with electrical connectors and/or conductors, as in the form of electrical component leads or edges of printed circuit boards. In such straight post contact applications, the axis of the mating interconnection is, by definition, perpendicular to the plane of the mounting substrate. From an electrical packaging standpoint, such directional orientation of mating elements is generally desirable for electrical components, card edge connectors and backpanel assemblies, and/or related applications where the mating conductors may be at right angles to the mounting substrate without extending beyond the alloted space limitations above the substrate.
Certain other connector applications require that the contacts comprising one of the electrical connectors of a matingly connected pair be provided in such a configuration as to engage the second mating connector along an axis generally parallel to the mounting substrate of the first connector, providing an orthogonal, or right angle, interconnection of the substrates. In certain prior art connectors of such a type, the contacts are constructed in a right angle configuration. A first straight portion is provided for the securing thereof to the mounting substrate while the second, orthogonal portion lies at a right angle to the first and parallel to the mounting substrate. In this manner the plane of the mounting substrate and the axis of the mating interconnection with a second connector are generally parallel and provide for numerous packaging design advantages. However, the practical approaches to assembling and securing such right angle contacts to the mounting substrate have been limited due to the orthogonal configuration of the contact, and assembly problems associated therewith. Generally, only discrete connectors, having the contacts molded therein, have been effectively utilized for such applications.
For certain connector applications, it is specifically desirable to press fit the contacts directly into the mounting substrate rather than soldering them, as is often the procedure with discrete connectors. When the contacts of either straight post or right angle construction, are press fitted, the mounting substrate may singularly support the contacts and hold them rigidly in a fixed configuration. Such a press fit approach is in contrast to that of the discrete connector where the contact is permanently mounted and supported within an insulative body. Although an insulative body may be used in both instances, in the latter, discrete connector, the insulator is the primary structural support for the contacts, and problems arise because the insulator can not be removed after the connector is mounted to the substrate. In that instance, it is virtually impossible to remove individual ones of the contacts from within the molded insulator and/or mounting substrate for repair in the event one of the contacts, whether straight or right angle in configuration, is damaged.
Certain prior art approaches to press fitted contacts have heretofore primarily included only the straight post type contacts having rigid, transversely extending load bearing shoulders for receiving and rigidly withstanding the requisite press fit insertion force from an insertion tool. Moreover, certain straight post contacts have been constructed for being press fitted into apertures in a mounting substrate and subsequently covered by a layover insulator to provide a multitude of advantages. One such contact, of the card edge connector type, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,917 issued to John P. Ammon and Frederick T. Inacker on June 20, 1972 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The contact set forth therein is characterized by a load bearing shoulder for engaging a press fit tool immediately above the region of the contact adapted for interfering engagement with the contact receiving aperture in the mounting substrate. The area of the contact between the press fit shoulder and the area of engagement of the contact receiving aperture is sufficiently rigid so that the contact will not buckle or bend under the longitudinal force required for press fitting. Once the contacts are press fitted into apertures in the mounting substrate, such as conventional printed circuit board backpanels, the insulative housing is snapped over the top thereof.
Related prior art approaches to press fit contacts have also included the utilization of the insulative housing as the contact holding fixture, and in some cases, as the seating tool for press fitting the contact. One such approach is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,442 to David S. Goodman entitled "Connector and Method for Attaching Same to Printed Circuit Board". The connector described in the Goodman patent, includes straight post type contacts which are top loaded down into slots in the insulator. The contact tails are pulled through to seat the contacts and the lower portion of each contact is twisted 90 degrees to lock each contact into the insulator bottom and to provide an abutting engagement between the insulator bottom and relatively large outwardly extending shoulders formed on the contact. The contacts can then be press fitted into apertures in a substrate by applying force to the top of the insulator. However, once the contacts have been fully press fitted, it is impossible to remove the insulator to expose individual ones of the contacts for repair, as is the case with discrete connectors as a whole.
A trend in the development of the substrate mounted connector art is that of using structures which include an insulator removable from around the contacts rigidly mounted into a substrate. A principal reason for removable layover-insulators, as stated above, is repairability. An insulator which may be removed from around the press fitted contacts provides a means of access to those contacts and facilitates repairability. The same is true whether the contacts are of the straight post type or right angle type. It is similarly desirable to provide connectors having insulators and contacts, straight post or right angle, wherein the insulator itself can serve as a contact holding fixture and a press fitting tool and then be subsequently removable after the contacts are rigidly press fitted into a substrate. One such connector, having straight post contacts, is disclosed and described in co-pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 597,751, filed by J. Preston Ammon on July 21, 1975, entitled "Electrical Connector and Method of Fabrication and Assembly", and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Such a connector, having right angle contacts, is the subject of the present invention.
The connector and method of the present invention is especially adapted for the assembly and housing of right angle contacts in an effectively removable insulative housing. The term "effectively removable" is used as describing an insulative housing wherein the whole housing or a sufficient portion thereof may be removed to permit access to the contacts and their removal from the substrate. The present connector and method thus overcome many of the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an insulative housing for right angle contacts, which itself serves as the holding fixture and may serve as the press fit tool for the contacts, and yet is effectively removable therefrom after the contacts are rigidly installed in a substrate for repairability of the connector. In addition, the right angle contacts may be simultaneously inserted in each section of the insulator, and securely held in position in the assembled structure so as to facilitate normal handling as a complete subassembly akin to some of the features of discrete connectors.